We live, simultaneously, in two different worlds. Ultimately, we live in the World of Nature, a world that we did not create and the world upon which all life depends. Most immediately, we inhabit a "human world" that we create ourselves. Because our human world is the result of our own choices and actions, we can say, quite properly, that we live, most immediately, in a “political world.” In this blog, I hope to explore the interaction of these two worlds that we call home.

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Gary A. Patton

I was an elected official in Santa Cruz County, California for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995. Now, I am an environmental attorney, practicing law in Santa Cruz County. If you would like to contact me, send me an email at gapatton@mac.com.

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Monday, April 2, 2012

#93 / The Precautionary Principle #2

The precautionary principle states that if a policy (or action) has a suspected risk of causing harm, in the absence of a rational consensus that harm will not occur, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate the policy (or action).

Effectively, this allows policy makers to make discretionary decisions in situations where there is evidence of potential harm in the absence of complete proof.

The principle implies that there is a responsibility to intervene and protect people from exposure to harm where there is a plausible risk.

Human beings have an immense pride in their own ability to create new realities. That is one of the glories of our human existence. Without due humility before the World of Nature, however, upon which all of our human works ultimately depend, we can put not only our own world, but even the Natural World itself, at immense risk.